Ford Focus Electric Incentives: $10K Off 3-Year Lease Or $2K Cash

We've clearly not seen the back of tempting electric car leasing deals.

One Mitsubishi dealer is offering the "i" electric car for as little as $69 per month for example, and Ford is now offering hefty discounts on its Focus Electric.

Lease buyers can get up to $10,750 off the cost of a three-year lease deal for buyers taking retail delivery by April 1, reports The Detroit News.

Customers can get a 36-month lease with 10,500 miles per year for $285 per month, and $930 down at signing. Ford says not all Focus EVs will qualify.

The lease includes the value of the full $7,500 electricvehicle tax credit.

It isn't just lease customers who can benefit, though - cash buyers can also get money off the slow-selling electric Focus.

Ford's website lists the price of the Focus Electric as $37,995 for cash buyers--$2,000 lower than list. Buyers financing through Ford Motor Credit can also get $2,000 cash discount, with financing at 1.9 percent.

The discounts have been likened to similar lease deals offered by Chevy last year to help boost Volt sales--though those initial discounts are no longer in place. Ford also says it doesn't have to knock too much money off the car.

"We certainly are not in a situation where we have to completely discount but we do have to respond to competitive pressures" said Ford spokesman, Wes Sherwood.

While Chevy moved 23,461 Volts in 2012 and Nissan sold 9,819 Leafs, Ford sold just 685 of the 1,627 Focus Electrics it built in 2012.

The Focus Electric has recently been given a positive review by Consumer Reports, even attaining a 107 MPGe efficiency figure--but it may take even better deals to encourage the buying public to find out for themselves.

Source: Green Car Reports